Stories

Whether it’s an eclipse or a night of sky watching, gazing up at the stars simply goes best with a National Trust scone and beautiful countryside settings. With that in mind, here are the Top 5 National Trust properties for sky watching.

West Sussex is home to many National Trust sites: historic houses, gardens, coast and countryside. If you’re planning a trip to England soon and are looking for an itinerary of places to go, this guide and map can help you to plan a route that satisfies all your travel interests. As a member of Royal Oak, you can visit all of these sites for free!

Last week, a veritable treasure came across my desk: our Executive Director Sean Sawyer received a copy of the January 2, 1950 edition of TIME Magazine and passed it onto me. As a college journalism major, the chance to get my hands on any decades-old publication is a treat, but this was not simply another old magazine. This was the TIME “Man of the Half-Century,” featuring Winston Churchill gazing resolutely from the cover, the tumultuous winds of the 20th century blowing behind him. I was unbelievably excited to dig in, and I wasn’t disappointed with what I found. Here are six takeaways I had from a fun morning reading this 65-year old magazine:

Staircases and interiors are an important part of what makes National Trust interiors so otherworldly. Their intricate detail and thoughtful design fascinate Royal Oak's Jacqueline Bascetta. Read about what she finds so special about them, and then see for yourself with a Royal Oak membership.

All of us at The Royal Oak Foundation are excited to launch our 2015 National Trust Appeal for the Furniture Research Project. For inspiration, I’ve been digging through the Royal Oak archives and boy did I find an article to whet the appetite of our furniture and decorative arts enthusiasts! In the spring of 2010, Royal Oak published an article in the newsletter by Tim Knox, then Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum in London and former architectural historian and Head Curator at the National Trust. This in-depth article describes the English country house interiors inch by inch, from the plasterwork on the ceiling to the elaborate needle-work on the furniture.

Looking for a great weekend getaway from London? Royal Oak's got you covered. Hit the road with this itinerary and your Royal Oak membership for a couple days of English history and countryside.